Zózimo Bulbul's epic documentary "Abolição" ("Abolishment") was released on the 100th anniversary of slavery abolishment in Brazil - just
like the TV miniseries of same name - but this isn't a jubilee about Princess Isabel signing the Áurea Law and ending the trafficking and
enslavement of Africans. It's a poignant and harsh criticism of everything that happened ever since the May 13, 1888, where the freed black
community haven't found itself freed for anything as they were secluded into poverty, neglect, marginality and a rampant systemic racism (that's
a recent term but given the testimonies featured here you can think along those lines).
The film goes into several fronts with many artistic performances related with the black culture that came before and after slavery, through
samba, carnival and the afro religions (both widely discriminated by the white establishment); a play act inside a prison; a puppet show where Princess Isabel
is ridiculed; a repentista performance singing/improvising about the condition of blacks in Brazil, followed by several images of people living
in the streets, among other things; and the more insightful interviews with personalities such as political leader Luiz Carlos Prestes, singer/politician
Agnaldo Timóteo, the first black miss Brazil, Deise Nunes, the first black ambassador in Gana, Raymundo Souza Dantas, Olympic athlete Adhemar Ferreira da Silva; congressman and future state
governor Benedita da Silva, and others. They all
talk about the situation faced by the black community (also the native community), the lack of improvement or better living and working conditions for them,
and the ways the fight for equality should go.
The interviews form the best moments of everything as they reveal plenty of things about Brazil history that is often neglected unless you
study and research those issues; and the majority of opinions shared felt as things that I often wondered and thought about it but never found
the exact way to express or seen as told by someone else. Unlike the American experience of 40 acres and a mule, the Africans brought here were given
nothing, the bosses also were given nothing by their comrades from the Monarchy, which led to the proclamation of Republic and presidentialism in
1889, a year after the abolishment law. It was struggle after struggle, and 130+ years later the fight for dignity, respect and being part of the
greater parts of society are still in progress (there was improvement, but still there's many problems to be solved).
With its nearly 3 hours of running time, "Abolição" is the most comprehensive work about the theme and done at the most proper time. But far
from being a masterpiece or perfect. A few issues were either ignored or not thought about such as the notion that when we hear about the abolishment
of slavery a great part of society knew deep down that it wasn't enough as there were people who lived under the exact condition of being slaves,
working without pay and living under extreme conditions (it still happens), and when the new Constitution came along exactly in 1988 and its amazing
laws and propositions against any form of exploitation, there's still a society living under that gun - around the world as well. Or others who work
under extreme pressures and receving low payments, many odd-jobs and some honest but they're all considered as modern day slavery.
Another thing I take issue is that it feels that the filmmakers were avoiding to create a state of animosity against police authorities. There's
not a single mention of police brutality, racial profiling (a term that didn't exist, but an existing scenario) and how poor and black people
are easy targets in their communities for the most pointless reasons. This was done after the military regime but still under censorship laws
(defunct later that year), so I'd like to think it was because of that, and not because it would be "too much" to cover in an already long project.
The closest we get from that issue appear through a series of pictures of bandits killed by the police and on the corpses there were mockery
signs and drawings on the men. But the discussion is simply not there.
A most deserving state of revolt, indignation and no valid celebration on the abolishment, yet there are many light-hearted moments that
celebrate the Afro culture as an important part of Brazilian culture. The most interesting moment of those comes when Dom Hélder Camara, a
Catholic leader, enthusiastically compares the church saints with the African deities, despite being different religions there are correlations among
them. Not one iota of prejudice or intolerance when the senior man was poetically talking about that. That moment alone is something that we could
all learn from. 8/10.
